What do you do for your dogs 2nd birthday? Take him to the beach…Obviously!

Back in April (yes, this is a super belated post) we went to Westport, WA to meet up with my friend Morgan and her family (her new pup included)! We arrived on Friday afternoon and it was a beautiful day to hang out with Otto on the beach…

Here is what I know about Bouillabaisse: I don’t remember a Christmas Eve dinner where we ate something else. Sure, I know in my tyrant child days I wouldn’t touch the stuff, and I honestly probably ate dinner rolls and chocolate…but luckily I don’t remember those days all too well. I seriously can’t remember anything else we ever made for the day, and it’s time the recipe lives on.

Another thing: It’s always called Bouillabaisse, not Cioppino, not “Seafood Stew.” All are about the same thing, and my mom just chooses to call it the most fun and hardest to spell name of all.

Typically, people throw scallops into their Bouillabaisse, but we have never been big on them in our family so we always leave them out and add more of the “good stuff.” Shrimp, Crab, Clams, and either halibut or salmon are usually our picks. You can treat this recipe as more of a guide than anything. We tweak our recipe a little bit each year – especially the time my dad dumped an ENTIRE jar of red pepper flakes into the soup…The lid wasn’t on tight enough…and some of our guests ended up eating Kraft Mac N Cheese. Shit happens…Especially on Christmas Eve. Continue reading →

It has to be one of the best shrimp recipes on the planet. My aunt was given this recipe by a friend awhile back, and it has now become one of our families “signature recipes.” Everyone just loves it, I mean, shrimp in a hot, buttery sauce, what more could you want?

The best part? It comes together super quick and easy. Served with some bread for sopping up the delicious buttery sauce is a must. Add a nice side salad and you are all set for an amazing dinner.

It’s amazing how good this shrimp is – you may want to adjust some of the seasonings if you are not into super spicy stuff, this shrimp is definitely fiery! I think it’s served best with bread for dipping, but I’m tempted to try it over rice, pasta, as a po’boy, in mac n’ cheese…the possibilities are really endless! We were left with some extra sauce, which would be excellent on some grilled corn…You can also freeze the extra sauce and save it for a rainy day!

Recipe
Killer Shrimp
serves 2 (double for more…you will likely want to share this with more people!)

Ingredients

1 Lb Extra large shrimp in shell (we used tail-on)

1 stick + 5 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 ½ tsp. fresh chopped garlic

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp. oregano

½ tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. dried thyme

½ c. shrimp stock (can substitute clam juice as it is more readily available – this is what we usually use)

A family friend gave us some AWESOME smoked salmon, and I’m pretty sure when most people think of smoked salmon, their brain immediately goes to…bagels…cream cheese…and Heaven.

The only thing about smoked salmon is you can never have enough. Have you ever been to party where there is just extra smoked salmon laying around? No. It’s always the first thing to go because it’s so. damn. good. When I saw Shutterbean’s post on this smoked salmon spread, I pretty much wanted to cry because I too have been late to the smoked salmon plate before. And then it was just…obvious…Smoked Salmon spread is so easy to make, and it solves the problem of all the salmon disappearing before the bagels and crackers do! And it’s super adaptable and easy, you can easily adjust to your taste!

1-2 tsp of capers (a little bit of juice from the jar is fine, I opted to do this instead of adding milk or greek yogurt to thin it out slightly).

dash of hot pepper sauce (such as tabasco or sriracha)

1 tbsp. fresh or dried dill (you may want to scale it back to 1 tsp, we really like dill over here)

freshly ground black pepper to taste

PRO TIP: Instead of cream cheese, try Neufchâtel cheese! It’s always right by the cream cheese at the store and often contains less fat and calories than regular cream cheese. And whoa – tastes almost the same.

Optional add-ins:

fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish, or you can mix a little in!

1 tbsp milk or greek yogurt – if your cream cheese is too thick you may want to thin it out with another dairy product.

a few tbsp. red onion, mix it in or serve it on the side for the onion-o-phobes

want some kick? Add a dash of horseradish

Lemon slices always make a pretty garnish…

Directions

Combine the cream cheese, at least 2 oz of the salmon, lemon juice, capers, hot sauce, pepper, and dill to a small food processor and process until smooth. Want more salmon in there? Then add the rest. It’s a nice touch to keep a little bit of salmon set aside to garnish the dip, but you don’t need much.

Serve with crackers for a nice pre-dinner appetizer, or serve at brunch (who are we kidding, eat this whenever you want), with bagels, tomatoes, red onion and fresh slices of lemon.

Make Ahead: Dip can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge.

What do you do in Seattle at 4PM on a Saturday? You go to The Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard, because if you don’t get there right when they unlock their doors, you are going to be waiting for a table for a looong while.

If you love oysters, you should put dining at the Walrus at top of your list. If you hate oysters, you should also put the Walrus at the top of your list. Huh? Continue reading →

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